I call this move secret because the project was started without all the usual fanfare. Seattle media, especially the local TV outlets, discovered the existence of this new public works project and City Hall quickly reacted to explain all the new construction. Here is an excellent KOMO-4 TV report on the new project.

The idea is to "reclaim" The Jungle for Seattle by giving local residents in the besieged bordering neighborhood of Beacon Hill a chance to use the land for recreational use. If the public begins to use The Jungle, then the small army of criminals that use the place as a base for their drug, prostitution, and other crimes will be chased away.

Nice idea, but it won't work.

The bike trail as being constructed merely underscores the danger of The Jungle. The bike trail will wind through The Jungle fenced in on both sides by two ten-foot parallel chain link fences capped by twelve foot lights. In other words, a path has been cleared through The Jungle but bicyclists and hikers on the trail have just a fence and some lights as protection against the criminals lurking just feet away in the dense underbrush.

When I first heard the project described, it reminded me of the old fortifications on the Berlin Wall. Compare this photo with what I just described above. Ignore the guard towers and take away the barbed wire and you have the proposed bike trail through The Jungle. Looks lovely, very peaceful, eh?

Few people will ever use this bike trail, especially at night when the real character of The Jungle gets menacing. I suspect that within a few weeks of the project's completion the fence will have a thousand holes cut through it by Jungle residents who get tired of walking around it and the copper wiring from the lights will be stolen. It happens in Seattle all the time, maybe by the same residents of The Jungle the city hopes to displace.

So how much is this new bike trail going to cost Seattle taxpayers? The normal ebullient Mayor is tight lipped on this project. Even the media sources reporting the new bike path are not quoting estimates, just the sources of the funding.

The problem with The Jungle is not its location or its geography. The issue is the dense underbrush that permits extensive homeless and criminal activity at the site. You literally cannot see five feet in front of you in places. The solution is obvious. CLEAR THE BRUSH and DEVELOP THE SITE. The area has both genuine recreation and commercial uses but not when dozens of acres of good land are covered with weeds and shrubs, none of which are worth preserving.

Such a clearing solution would anger the homeless advocates in the city. Just hauling away the TONS OF DEBRIS left behind by homeless (and dead) men and women causes an outcry over public "fascism" and insensitivity. Such protest on City Hall are frequent and extremely vocal.